Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1887-12-18

Sickles had then been able 10 secnra , ~,
uesired cooperation nj WASHINGTON the
uem. of the Antilles" would lone AGO
nave, C pecn under the American flag.
General Sickles is q man OF fortune
10y inheritance, and knows how to enjoy
NE IN the fashionable circles Of New
tork: Lake General Sherman. he is a
laVorite on festive occasions and ranks
among the best after.dinner speakers in
the city. AS politician, soldier. diplo-
matist' and emancipation, he has played
ms part these many long wears among
age. W "'
THE BIG METAL BOOM.
The Wild gambling in copper in New
York and London is attracting more and
more attention as the price mounts
higher and higher under the manipula-
lions OF the French clique, composed
partly of Paris bankers, who control
the situation. Ingot copper usually sells
~ I'D to II cents pound, but ii is now
I ~ cents, rise of Sl40 ton, bringing
the price up to $3.50 a ton. A year ago
copper was worth in London little less
than 500 ton now it commands 1866.
The principal bull point on the market is
that the consumption has overtaken and
now exceedsthe production. 1t was on this
point that a French syndicate, said to
represent a capital of $4,000, 900, took
hold of the market The fire last spring
IN the Calumet and Hecla mine, in the
Lake Superior region, had a very i'm
portant bearing on the speculation, for
the reason that it is the largest copper
mine in the country, and this accident
reduced the supply. The mine is capt.
Of the par value of S25. but the stock
sells at about $3.50. At different periods
it has assessed the stockholders 81, 200,-
coo, but has put in dividends with
In some twenty-five years of its ex-
istence of S29,3J0, 000-the last divi-
dend being s. a share last July. 1t
Is a pet stock in Boston, that hotbed of
copper stock gamblers, but New Workers
seldom NEEDLE with it. The French
men have rubbed their hands with salts
faction at the repeated fires and acct
dents at the Calumet mine within the
past year, for the reason that they seem
to leave them q clearer field for their
campaign against the bears in London
and New York. Yet the Michigan
mines, nevertheless, make a very good
exhibit of production for the year, and
it is worth while to note few facts
which il is needless to say the
cOrner-makers would like to have kept
as quiet as possible. The Calumet and
Hecla mine IN the eleven months of this
year produced 27,04S tons of ore-75
per cent. copper-which shows a de-
crease compared with the same period
last year Of only {, 900 tons, and is less
than 600 tons behind the same period in
1885. The production Of the seven
principal mines of Michigan, the chief
source of supply for eleven months of
this year was II. 400 tons, or only 1900
tons less than for the same period last
year, and actually nearly 1000 tons more
than in the same period two years ago.
PRIAiED WITH BULL POINTS.
Every effort is made to bring in out
siders. and Wall-street operators and peo-
pie in Boston and elsewhere in New Eng
land are interested in the speculation.
The syndicate have little Frenchman
here named Mcndel, who is primed to
the eyes with bull points, acts as their
broker, discourses yolubly in bad Eng
lish of the merits of the situation, and
Of course denies that there is any corner.
1t recalls the fact that p. ID. Armour
never knew anything about a corner,
even when he was squeezing the shorts
till their tongues ran out. There was
simply good demand for the stuff. "
The rise in copper threatens to have a
very serious effect on manufacturing IN
ierests. Manufacturers have stopped
the manufacture of many useful articles
composed of that metal 1t is one OF
the most useful that we have as well as
one OF the oldest, deriving its name from
Cvprus. where It was first obtained 10y
the Greeks. 1t is produced very largely
in Chill, aud in London the standard
quotation is for Chill bars. 1t is also
found TO some extent in Cuba and Aus
tralia, but their production does not In
huence the markets 1t is abundant in
the Lake Superior region, and in some
places the vein is two feet in thickness.
II of interest to observe that the mines
of that region were worked long before
the arrival of Europeans on this CONT
uent, as scientists have discovered, but
modern operations there were not begun
till abOnt forty years ago.
4 broker, in speaking OF the eject OF
the rise in copper on manufactures, said /:
"There will be no sugar-pans made Tor
the refinerics at these prices, no whis-
kev-stills or boilers, and the effect In the
manufacture of other articles will be
quite as marked. Another thing, the
manufacturers have been caught in a
trap. When copper began to rise so ra-
pidlv thew thought that they would he
smart and sell out their surplus supply
at the Metal Exchange and trust to the
resumption Of full operations at the Caiu-
met mine to secure al they wanted Mt
lower prices. They have unloaded, the
price keeps going up, and they are
caught.
THE TIN sUIpjY.
Perhaps even more important is the
big advance in pig-tln which within
short time has risen il cents pound.
Early IN The present year the pTlce was
300 ton In London. Now 1t is $500,
all owing 10 the thimble-rigglng on inc
same French clique which controls cop
uer and which in this case also proceeds
on the point that the production has
Jagged behind the consumption. The
lin supply of the world Is derived mostly
from Maiacca, in the Malayan peninsula,
and Cornwall, England, where the
mines have been known to traders from
remote ages. Phmnician navigators
took tin from Cornwall to Tyre
and Sidon, the London and New
York of the ancient trading world. Aus
tralia also has large mines and IN the Tar
West a little seems to have been found,
though it counts for nothing as factor
i'm the markets. The effect of the rise
in pig-tin on various manufactures is
beginning 10 be seriously felt. The
manufacturers of Britannia ware are now
doing nothing and are calling IN their
drummers. They cannot afford 70 pay
the present prices. The Gamers OF
fruits. meats, and vegetables are likely
10 feel the pinch later on. One OF the
largest consumers Of tin in the West IS